Frustrated to see a post from the "J.R.R. Tolkien" official Facebook page come up today on my Facebook news feed. I don't follow the page myself because it's essentially just a promotional/marketing page for the publishers. A Facebook friend had liked this post so it came up.

It was Gandalf's quote to Pippin from the films, "The Return of the King" specifically, about death; the one that repurposes Frodo's arrival in Valinor, with "all is turned to silver glass" and so forth, and misleadingly uses it to describe some kind of pleasant "afterlife" (as opposed to quiet contemplation in the halls of Mandos).

This was posted with "-J.R.R. Tolkien" below it, as if this film quotation, which repurposes some language from the books, was an exact quote from the man himself.

Absolutely pathetic on the part of the publishers and another piece of evidence for how the films actually do distort the public perception of the author, even if they don't "damage" it.

Some comments pointed this out, fortunately, but it turned into the usual useless "book vs film" argument of the calibre typical of Facebook comments sections.

The palimpsest is in full effect, it would seem.

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"Since the evening of that day we have journeyed from the shadow of Tol Brandir."
"On foot?" cried Éomer.

It was Gandalf's quote to Pippin from the films, "The Return of the King" specifically, about death; the one that repurposes Frodo's arrival in Valinor, with "all is turned to silver glass" and so forth, and misleadingly uses it to describe some kind of pleasant "afterlife" (as opposed to quiet contemplation in the halls of Mandos).

Unfortunately, a lack of distinction between books and films was an inevitable consequence of the movies' popularity.

To those who haven't read the books, or are only familiar with them through a single reading, it would seem the films are the definitive version of the story.

To me, that line of Blanchett-Galadriel's along the lines of "even the smallest person can change the world", has stuck in my craw because it wants to put itself forward as the "inner meaning" of LOTR.

Quite so; it's the official representatives (or at least the publishers) getting in on it that rankles me.

Are you sure it's not just a mistake by a lowly intern? I mean, instead of being a directive from higher up?

However, the fact that there apparently wasn't a crackdown on this kind of thing after the much worse example you gave earlier does suggest the publishers are unconcerned about the issue- at the very least.

Are you sure it's not just a mistake by a lowly intern? I mean, instead of being a directive from higher up?

However, the fact that there apparently wasn't a crackdown on this kind of thing after the much worse example you gave earlier does suggest the publishers are unconcerned about the issue- at the very least.

I daresay it was just someone from their social media team, but yes I still think it's very poor form that something "official" can be involved in perpetuating this kind of misinformation and misrepresentation.

The thing that irks me (that no one in the comments on the page appears to have grasped) is that attributing a line of film dialogue (albeit one derived from the books) to Professor Tolkien himself is simply sloppy and unprofessional. Of course, it appears that anyone taking objection is simply told "well the movies were inspired by the books so it doesn't matter." It doesn't make it any less misleading, however.

EDIT: Actually I notice that the post doesn't specifically say "-J.R.R. Tolkien" underneath, it just says "J.R.R. Tolkien" and his dates, so it's technically not presenting it as a quote, and I'm making more of a deal out of this than I should. I still think it's peculiar to quote the films (and an idea from the films, which implies that mortal death is like going to some kind of paradise, which isn't what Professor Tolkien actually wrote) in relation to an author who had absolutely nothing to do with the films.

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"Since the evening of that day we have journeyed from the shadow of Tol Brandir."
"On foot?" cried Éomer.